Starmer targets AI chatbots, child data rules in new safety push
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- Keir Starmer pledged to extend the Online Safety Act to cover AI chatbots and take on "all AI bots" the way he did X's Grok, warning no platform gets a "free pass" on child safety.
- The government will require coroners to notify Ofcom of every death of a child aged 5-18 and compel tech companies to preserve a deceased child's phone data within five days, down from the current 12-month window.
- Jools' Law, named after 14-year-old Jools Roome who died in 2022, will be added to the Crime and Policing Bill; his mother Ellen said bereaved families currently lose access to data before inquiries can begin.
- A public consultation will explore banning under-16s from social media, restricting children's use of AI chatbots, and limiting infinite scrolling, with ministers seeking new powers to act "immediately" once it concludes.
- Technology Secretary Liz Kendall argued legislation must move faster, comparing the pace needed to annual Finance Bills, since the 2023 Online Safety Act was written before AI chatbots like ChatGPT existed.
- Additional measures include blocking children's use of VPNs to bypass age checks and requiring chatbots to shield users from illegal content.
- Opposition critics including shadow education secretary Laura Trott and the Lib Dems accused the government of "inaction" and "kicking the can down the road," while Lord Nash and Molly Rose Foundation CEO Andy Burrows pressed Starmer to go further and raise the age limit to 16.
Why it matters: The Online Safety Act was written before ChatGPT existed, so folding AI chatbots in and accelerating the legislative process gives Ofcom and coroners new leverage over tech giants. For bereaved parents, shrinking the data-preservation window from 12 months to five days could finally provide evidence of how a child died online.
